China Pursuing Dutch Aerospace Tech: Dutch Intelligence Agency

“The Netherlands remains an attractive espionage target for China, especially in the areas of the semiconductor industry, quantum technology, aerospace and marine industries,” said Jan Swillens, head of the MIVD military espionage agency. .

Swillens, who filed the annual report, said his service “detected and thwarted various Chinese attempts to acquire (military) technology” last year.

“Dutch corporations, knowledge institutions and scientists have been targeted on a large scale. It’s very destructive.”

According to MIVD, China is working intensively to increase its satellite launches, aiming for 100 launches per year from 40 in 2020.

MIVD added that China’s aim is to lead the way in space through the development of a state-of-the-art quantum communication network with global coverage.

“This form of communication is difficult to intercept” and offers a “great military advantage,” the Dutch agency said.

The MIVD said it had identified further cover organizations that China is using to circumvent export restrictions.

MIVD’s partner, the Dutch general intelligence agency AIVD, warned on Monday that China posed the “greatest threat to the economic security of the Netherlands,” which Beijing denied.

The Netherlands is a European leader in manufacturing military hardware as well as chips, which are essential components in products like smartphones and connected cars.

In March, under pressure from Washington, The Hague announced plans for new export controls on technology to limit China’s access to the technology used to make computer chips.

Beijing condemned the move, which came less than two months after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the issue.

The regulation is expected to affect Netherlands-based ASML, Europe’s largest semiconductor technology company.

jcp/cw/gw